The Family of God

As we continue to address The Focus on the Family, we want to remember that the Family is instituted and ordained by God. Family is not a secular or human idea, it's a Divinely Ordained Institution from God. Therefore, Family is Sacred. What we fail to realize on many occasions is that, if the Family is going to be functional and productive, it cannot do so apart from God. Any Family that is going to be what God has Ordained the Family to be, needs God in order to sustain the family unit. Too often, we try to run our houses and relate to certain family members without God and outside of God's Divine Will for our lives. This is the main reason why so many of our family relationships are frustrated and faltering. We must keep in mind, The Family is of God.

We've had various representations of The Family shown to us by the media. You have the famous Cosby family, you have the Cleavers on Leave it to Beaver, you even have the Adams Family (not the best representation of course). But as much as we applauded the depiction of the Cosbys and the Cleavers and other seemingly wholesome and well-adjusted families on tv, the question I always raised was, Where was God? Maybe I missed some episodes, but I never saw the Cosbys praying together as a Family. I don't recall Mr. Cleaver telling Wally and Theodore (the Beaver) that in order to work out a particular problem they're going to need to call on Jesus. What the television did was give us positive family models without the Presence of God. Therefore, what we witnessed, and in many instances applauded, was a lie. You're not going to have Family Unity and peace in the home outside of the Presence of God. That's fictitious and wishful thinking at best. So if you think your family is going to be functional and whole outside of the Presence of Jesus and His Spirit ruling your house, you are Deceived.

God ordained the Family; and He did not create the Family to function apart from Him, He established the Family to operate in Communion with Him. For this reason, we must establish the Principle that our Families need to revolve around God and His Will for our families. Let me say it again: we need to establish the Principle that our families need to Revolve around God and His Will and Purpose for our families. Did you know that God has a Divine Purpose for your Family? We think God just has a Calling for the church or for certain ministers and preachers. No. God has a Calling for your Family. And it's up to the Father and the Mother to identify what that Calling is (which is supposed to be done before you get married) and then to communicate that Vision and Calling to the children. Is this not what God did with Abraham? The whole Calling for Abraham's life was about The Family (Genesis 12, Genesis 17). The reason why as Christians we are called "the children of God" is because we are a part of God's Family. The reason God is our "Heavenly Father" is because He's the Head of the Universal Family (Matthew 6). This thing is about Family folks. And no human family is going to be successful and healthy apart from the Divine Family of God. Let's make sure that as we nurture our human families that we are intricately connected and a part of The Family of God.